hearken

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₂ḱh₂owsyéti“to be sharp-eared, hear well”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*hauzijaną“to hear”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*hauʀijan
4. Old English · inherited fromhercnian
5. Middle English · inherited fromherkenen“to listen (attentively); to pay attention, take heed”
6. English todayhearken

From Middle English herkenen (“to listen (attentively); to pay attention, take heed”) [and other forms], from Old English hercnian, heorcnian, hyrcnian, from *heorcian (“to hark”) infixed with -n-, from Proto-West Germanic *hauʀijan, from Proto-Germanic *hauzijaną (“to hear”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ḱh₂owsyéti (“to be sharp-eared, hear well”), from *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”) + *h₂ṓws (“ear”) + *-yéti (denominative suffix), thus equivalent to hark + -en. The spelling of the English word was probably influenced by hear; a similarly analogical pronunciation existed in Early Modern English.

Words from the same roots